Anyone can create an index, right?Not exactly. It is true that anyone with the right software can create a concordance for a book. However, this does not mean that anyone can or should create an index for your publication.

Here's why. A professionally created, custom-made index offers your readers more than a concordance, which is only an alphabetized list of words at the end of a book. The custom-made index is an intuitive map for your readers; it helps readers navigate through your book quickly and efficiently. This is because a professional indexer anticipates the needs of your readers in a way that concordance generating software simply cannot do.Trust a professional indexer. After reading your book, I can create a custom-made index to your specifications with my professional indexing software. This index will give your book even greater appeal in today’s increasingly competitive marketplace. The casual reader and serious researcher alike will return to your book again and again because it contains meaningful information that is easy to locate in its custom-made index.

Monday, March 26, 2018

Full circle & final job

Here's a picture of what "my indexing world" has looked like for the past seven years~

Why am I sharing a picture of these very basic "tools of the indexing trade?" In a recent business blog post, I mentioned that I was thrilled to be hired as one of our local library's newest employees. Now that that job is in full swing, it's time for me to officially announce that I'll be "closing up shop" as a freelance indexer in 2018.

I have one more indexing job scheduled on my 2018 calendar. It's fitting that my last job as a freelance book indexer happens to be for the same publishing house that offered me my very first indexing job in 2011. It seems that I've come full circle, and it's time to move on.

I've enjoyed establishing my own business and learning about my role as an indexer in the publishing world. I'm also grateful to have worked with some pretty remarkable editors who've provided me with variety of materials to index. One chapter closes as another chapter begins....